Construction is still ongoing, but over a year ago, a sign appeared near Cheesecake Factory announcing that Grimaldi's Pizzeria was coming to First Colony Mall. Having lived within walking distance of the Brooklyn location, I was intrigued but had doubts as to whether it was actually affiliated with the NY original. Not only is it the same, but there appear to be restaurants in Arizona, Nevada, and Texas as well. Gonna be a lot closer than Dolce Vita once it opens.

In New York City, letters of recommendation are part of the hazing ritual known as a board package, whereby a buyer must convince a co-op board that he or she would make a worthy neighbor. But in this era of cellphones and instant messaging, formal letters of recommendation solicited from friends and associates can seem as quaint as cucumber sandwiches, with buyers and writers alike tempted to treat them as crustless formalities.

'Grannies' Charged in Peace Protest Are Acquitted. Another anti-war protest is being held in Manhattan today. The apathy I find down here is disappointing. Seems like the only thing that gets people riled up these days is the rising price of gasoline.

Despite the judge's protestations to the contrary, the verdict was a rare victory for protesters at a time when they have faced uphill battles in other forums. Hundreds of people who were arrested and detained for demonstrating at the 2004 Republican Convention are still embroiled in federal litigation charging the police with false arrest and violating their civil liberties. And the police continue to arrest bicycle riders on charges of disorderly conduct when they participate in monthly group rides called Critical Mass.

Finally got around to taking one of the Gray Line double-decker bus tours around town yesterday. We did the uptown loop ($37, 2 hrs), which was pretty interesting, but the air quickly turned frigid bringing our excursion to a sudden end (not much fun in riding downstairs). I recommend the tour, but don't do it in the middle of winter...

The judge said the city had wrongly argued that the Critical Mass rides were a form of parade or procession that required a permit because the riders "travel en masse." Following the city's reasoning, the judge wrote, "New Yorkers commuting over the Brooklyn Bridge on bicycles during a transit strike could be considered as 'bicycling en masse.' " Such a restriction, he said, raised constitutional concerns.

"Riding a bicycle on city streets is lawful conduct, as long as one observes the applicable traffic laws and rules," he wrote.